Deschutes The Abyss

2016 Reserve. The aroma is malt, chocolate, nuts, licorice. Pours thick black with tan creamy head mostly lasting and excellent lacing. The taste is medium sweet then a medium/heavy bitter. WOW! The body is full, the texture creamy, the carbonation lively and the finish long and bitter. This is a FRICKIN DAMN GOOD BEER!!!

Black in appearance with a brown head. Flavors of cocoa, alcohol, roast, slight burnt and vanilla.

Apparence : Noire, beau col brun foncé, carbonatation moyenne entretenant un col qui s’estompe laissant une légère dentelle.
Nez : Chocolat noir, torréfaction, réglisse noire, mélasse, vanille en arrière-plan et présence de notes de bois brûlé.
Goût : Chocolat noir, belle présence d’esters d’alcool, réglisse noire moins présente qu’au nez, première gorgée présentant une amertume herbacée en finale qui s’éteint au fil des gorgées. Équilibre des saveurs et arômes au final.
Sensation : Bonne densité, effervescence douce, bonne longueur en bouche.
Bref : Agréablement surpris par celle-ci. Difficile d’être surpris par une bière jouissant d’une telle renommée me direz-vous, mais la version m’avait laissé sur une impression d’amertume brûlée trop prononcée en finale, venant quelque peu gâcher le reste. Même chose pour la Black Butte XVIII. Celle-ci m’a paru plus équilibrée et, pour moi, plus intéressante. Juste la bonne quantité de sucre pour ne pas tomber dans la décadence.

Bottle 2015 Reserve. Pours a very dark reddy coke colour with a tan head. Big dark fruit, treacle, with prunes, rum, char... medium to full body, light to medium carb. Lots of rum raisin, vanilla, prune, toffee, woody... its a bit thin, but it's tasty. Not all that though. Just a good impy. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

2012 A: Pitch black with a nice one finger brown head N: Ash, bourbon, oak, vanilla, coffee, liqourice root T: Ash, hint of plum, liqourice(!), liqourice root, oak, coffee, hint of berries(?) O: Quite liqourice root forward and very nice balanced smokiness! Nice!

On tap to snifter. Pours jet black with rapidly receding tan head. Big aroma of coffee with subtle vanilla and some chocolate. Taste follows. Heavy coffee with bitter cocoa. A little boozy warming aftertaste. Very good imperial stout.

It sounds like a slight, or maybe a back-handed compliment, to say that this beer is not different from a whole bunch of other barrel aged imperial stouts. But it’s a style that I love when it is done well, and it’s done well here. This beer pours black with a little bit of tan head. There is heavy licorice on the aroma, along with the usual oak/vanilla barrel notes and an herbal quality. The flavor adds some bitter malt/baker’s chocolate stuff to that mix, and it all goes down very smoothly. There is nothing about this that I don’t like.

Bottle from Kensington wine market in Calgary. Pours midnight black with a creamy brown head with slightly reddish hues. Nose is sweet, vanilla, toffee, fudge, barrel, whiskey, coffee, roast. Tastes sweet, bitter, brown sugar, hot abv bite. This is a dynamite brew, can’t believe I gave a bottle away.

It took me a long time to get to this one, but it was worth the wait! Huge complex profile and rich depth of flavor. It isn’t just coffee or chocolate, there’s some other sticky sweet notes here, and just enough bitterness to balance it all out. The mouthfeel is thick enough to coat your tongue. It’s amazing.

Piwo totalnie w stylu Deschutes - naładowane słodami -melasa, toffi, karmel, goryczkowe z silnym akcentem beczki dębowej, gdzieś tam w tle lekkie winno-taniczne klimaty. Bourbonu nie jest tutaj za wiele - zaledwie lekka wanilia. Ciało pełne, ulepkowate, piwo słodowo-goryczkowe. Piwo na pewno znajdzie swoich wielbicieli. Dla mnie 4.1.